The Vanity of Human Wishes (1749) and Two Rambler papers (1750) | Page 7

to suffer his Imagination to range more or less in quest of
future Happiness, and to fix upon some Point of Time, in which he
shall, by the Removal of the Inconvenience which now perplexes him,
or the Acquisition of Advantage which he at present wants, find his
Condition of Life very much improved.

When this Time, which is too often expected with great Impatience, at
last arrives, it generally comes without the Blessing for which it was
desired; but we solace ourselves with some new Prospect, and press
forward again with equal Eagerness.
It is some Advantage to a Man, in whom this Temper prevails in any
great Degree, when he turns his Hopes upon Things wholly out of his
own Power, since he forbears then to precipitate his Affairs, for the
Sake of the great Event that is to complete his Felicity, and waits for
the blissful Hour, without neglecting such Measures as are necessary to
be taken in the mean Time.
I have long known a Person of this Temper, who indulged his Dream of
Happiness with less Hurt to himself than such chimerical Wishes
commonly produce, and adjusted his Scheme with such Address, that
his Hopes were in full bloom three parts of the Year, and in the other
part never wholly blasted. Many, perhaps, would be desirous of
learning by what Means he procured to himself such a cheap and
lasting Satisfaction. It was gained only by a constant Practice of
referring the Removal of all his Uneasiness to the Coming of the next
Spring. If his Affairs were disordered, he could regulate them in the
Spring; if a Regimen was prescribed him, the Spring was the proper
Time of pursuing it; if what he wanted was at a high Price, it would fall
its Value in the Spring.
The Spring, indeed, did often come without any of these Effects; but he
was always certain that the next would be more propitious; and was
never convinced that the present Spring would fail him until the Middle
of Summer; for he always talked of the Spring as coming 'till it was
past, and when it was once past, every one agreed with him that it was
coming.
By long Converse with this Man, I am, perhaps, in some Degree
brought to feel the same immoderate Pleasure in the Contemplation of
this delightful Season; but I have the Satisfaction of finding many,
whom it can be no Shame to resemble, infected with the same
Enthusiasm; for there is, I believe, scarce any Poet of Eminence, who
has not left some Testimony of his Fondness for the Flowers, the

Zephyrs, and the Warblers of the Spring. Nor has the most luxuriant
Imagination been able to describe the Serenity and Happiness of the
golden Age otherwise than by giving a perpetual Spring, as the highest
Reward of uncorrupted Innocence.
There is, indeed, something inexpressibly pleasing in the annual
Renovation of the World, and the new Display of the Treasures of
Nature. The Cold and Darkness of Winter, with the naked Deformity of
every Object on which we turn our Eyes, makes us necessarily rejoice
at the succeeding Season, as well for what we have escaped, as for what
we may enjoy; and every budding Flower, which a warm Situation
brings early to our View, is considered by us as a Messenger, to inform
us of the Approach of more joyous Days.
The Spring affords to a Mind, so free from the Disturbance of Cares or
Passions as to be vacant to calm Amusements, almost every Thing that
our present State makes us capable of enjoying. The variegated Verdure
of the Fields and Woods, the Succession of grateful Odours, the Voice
of Pleasure pouring out its Notes on every Side, with the Observation
of the Gladness apparently conceived by every Animal, from the
Growth of his Food, and the Clemency of the Weather, throw over the
whole Earth an Air of Gayety, which is very significantly expressed by
the Smile of Nature.
There are Men to whom these Scenes are able to give no Delight, and
who hurry away from all the Varieties of rural Beauty, to lose their
Hours, and divert their Thoughts by Cards, or publick Assemblies, a
Tavern Dinner, or the Prattle of the Day.
It may be laid down as a Position which will seldom deceive, that when
a Man cannot bear his own Company there is something wrong. He
must fly from himself, either because he feels a Tediousness in Life
from the Equipoise of an empty Mind, which, having no Tendency to
one Motion more than another but as it is impelled by some external
Power, must always have recourse to foreign Objects; or he must be
afraid of the Intrusion of some unpleasing Ideas, and,